Fresh macOS Sequoia VMs repeatedly reset virtual GPU and stop on macOS 15.7.7

[greenbigfrog]

Summary

Tart macOS VMs are not stable on my host. A freshly pulled ghcr.io/cirruslabs/macos-sequoia-base:latest VM starts briefly, then resets and/or stops. The same behavior occurs with the built-in UI and --vnc-experimental.

This reproduces with a completely fresh VM, so it does not appear to be caused by guest configuration or disk corruption.

Environment

• Host: Apple Silicon MacBook Air
• Host macOS: 15.7.7 (24G720)
• Tart: SNAPSHOT (local checkout at a438e2d) (due to [Bug] dyld error: Library not loaded: @rpath/libswiftCompatibilitySpan.dylib on macOS 15 #1302 )
• Guest image: ghcr.io/cirruslabs/macos-sequoia-base:latest
• Guest build reported in host logs: 24G720

Reproduction

tart clone ghcr.io/cirruslabs/macos-sequoia-base:latest woodpecker-macos
tart run woodpecker-macos

The VM window appears, but within seconds / after a few interactions the VM resets/reboots.

Expected behavior

The fresh Sequoia base VM should boot and remain running.

Actual behavior

The host logs repeatedly show the paravirtualized graphics device being reset:

com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) Device reset

com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) PGDisplayNub[0]: Destroyed

com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) Guest requested binary version: 209, setting binary version to: 209

The 209 line appears again after the reset, consistent with the guest graphics device reinitializing.

Things already tried

• Pulled a completely new VM from the current latest base image.
• Tested ghcr.io/cirruslabs/macos-sequoia-xcode:latest
• Fixed display to 1024x768px.
• Disabled automatic display refitting.
• Booted Recovery successfully.
• Ran Disk Utility First Aid; it reported the volumes as OK.
• Tested Tart’s normal UI, --vnc, and --vnc-experimental.
• Recovery is stable, but normal boot of both the original VM and a newly pulled base VM reproduces the issue.
• --no-graphics has same result. (I can briefly ssh no matter how, but get disconnected again quickly.)
• Same result for sonoma images

[AI was used in debugging and writing this issue]

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Log Excerpt:

Details

Tart / Virtualization log excerpt

Environment reported elsewhere:

• Host: macOS 15.7.7 (24G720), Apple Silicon
• Tart: SNAPSHOT (commit a438e2d)
• Guest: ghcr.io/cirruslabs/macos-sequoia-base:latest
• Reproduced with normal UI, --vnc, and --vnc-experimental

The guest virtual graphics protocol reinitializes after each reset. Routine
XPC, crypto, network, and VideoToolbox messages were omitted.

2026-08-12 12:42:03.027868+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Device reset
2026-08-12 12:42:03.027870+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [iosurface] Device reset
2026-08-12 12:42:03.029743+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] PGDisplayNub[0]: Destroyed
2026-08-12 12:42:03.193718+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Guest requested unknown binary version: 0
2026-08-12 12:42:03.820060+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Guest requested binary version: 209, setting binary version to: 209
2026-08-12 12:42:03.826738+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (libxpc.dylib) activating connection: name=com.apple.NetworkSharing

2026-08-12 12:42:31.375233+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Device reset
2026-08-12 12:42:31.375235+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [iosurface] Device reset
2026-08-12 12:42:31.376648+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] PGDisplayNub[0]: Destroyed
2026-08-12 12:42:31.376672+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Guest requested unknown binary version: 0
2026-08-12 12:42:32.141522+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] Guest requested binary version: 209, setting binary version to: 209
2026-08-12 12:42:32.151363+0200 com.apple.Virtualization.VirtualMachine: (ParavirtualizedGraphics) [renderer] PGDisplayNub[0]: Created

[greenbigfrog]

Colleague also on sequioa, but newer MacBook model, was able to run the images. (m3max with pretty much max possible specs.)
So it must be something with my M1 system.